Assembly collapse
'Sinn Fein raises real prospect of Assembly collapse' - that's the headline on the front of the Irish Times this morning, as the paper leads with what Gerry Moriarty says is the Sinn Fein view of what may happen in Northern Ireland if Arlene Foster does not step aside as First Minister.
The piece is quoting the party chairman Declan Kearney, who we're told, is the latest in a line of senior Sinn Fein figures to exert pressure on Ms Foster over what it calls the cash for ash green renewable heat fiasco.
Shane Ross
Pressure, which Shane Ross apparently feels is being exerted on the Independent Alliance meanwhile, makes the lead story in the Irish Examiner today. 'Ross - Fine Gael tried to isolate Alliance TDs' is the headline. In the story Daniel McConnell says the Minister has accused his Coalition partners of treating him and his colleagues as an inconvenience and of trying to isolate them at Cabinet.
Snap election
Just who might be at Cabinet should an election be called right now though makes the lead in the Irish Daily Mail.
'Martin would be Taoiseach after snap vote' is what the headline says has been revealed by the paper's own exclusive new poll.
We're told it indicates support for Fianna Fail is now at 31%, up 5 since the previous poll and 7 since the general election.
House prices
Percentages turn up on the fronts of the Examiner and Irish Times today too - but in those cases they are to do with the bad news about house prices... 'House prices surge by 34% since 2013' is the headline on the Examiner piece, while 'Property prices predicted to rise by 8%' is the one in the Irish Times.
But while that might be what is happening in the house market, the Irish Independent suggests it is a different story in the land one. 'Land sales collapse amid cash and Brexit uncertainty' is the headline over its front page piece on property. In it, Jim O'Brien says the volume of farmland sold at auction declined by 30% last year, as, we're told 'many sellers of land appear to have shunned the auction room in favour of private treaty sales and long term lease agreements. The piece says auctioneers and consultants are blaming volatile farm incomes, Brexit and the banks tighter lending policies for the flight from the auction rooms.
The continuing search for those to blame for the murder of prison officer Brian Stack more than 30 years ago meanwhile, is the subject of the actual lead story in the Independent today. 'New Garda Probe in Provos murder of prison officer' is the headline. In the story, we're told that detectives are conducting a fresh round of interviews about the murder in a bid to indentify the man who met the victim's sons in August 2013,
Otherwise this morning, the Irish Daily MIrror leads with a follow up story on the death, in that car crash, of Therese McGowan, while both the Irish Daily Star and the Irish Sun lead with reports on the funeral of Noel Kirwan. The Star highlights the fact that Gerry Hutch did not attend the ceremony for his slain friend, while the Sun, telling us that Mr Kirwan was not a member of what it calls 'The Monk's Mob' says his family expressed the belief he was murdered simply because he attended the funeral of Eddie Hutch . 'Noel killed to send an evil warning' is the headline there as we are told the 'Family issued a plea for an end to senseless slaughter'.
